


Just Roll With It

by loving-the-stars-themselves (youandmeotp)



Category: Class (TV 2016)
Genre: Apparently aliens have some bowling skills, Fluff, Multi, Quillei get their date crashed, bowling, honestly this is way more about the friendships than the romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 08:01:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13267155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youandmeotp/pseuds/loving-the-stars-themselves
Summary: Quill allows her girlfriend to drag her out of the house to go bowling. Much to their chagrin, a familiar group of teenagers has the same idea.





	Just Roll With It

**Author's Note:**

> Featuring [@evilqueenofgallifrey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayFairy/pseuds/evilqueenofgallifrey)'s OC, Kalei Jacobs, who I adore with all my heart. Thanks so much for the beta :)

“You know, I think I overheard in class that the ‘gang’ is going out somewhere tonight,” Kalei mentions to Quill as they walk through the front door of the bowling alley. It’s Friday night, and Kalei has lured Quill out of the house with the promise of competitive sport, one of the few things with a chance of detaching her from her coffee mug and warm blanket during the winter. “You know, Charlie and Tanya and all,” Kalei elaborates. “They seemed pretty excited about it.”

Quill rolls her eyes. “ _P_ _lease_ spare me the details. The last thing I want to think about tonight is those blasted children, no matter how much it seems I tolerate them now. I can’t believe—what? What are you giggling at?”

“You haven’t been bowling before, have you?” Kalei asks.

“You know I don’t go out and do things without you.”

This makes Kalei somewhat warm and tingly inside, but she doesn’t say so. “You said ‘please spare me the details,’ which is funny because a spare is—well, never mind. You’ll find out.”

“Now, I do expect to have all the rules explained to me beforehand so I can strategize, yes?”

Kalei laughs again as she hands the cashier the money. “I expect nothing less, oh great commander.” The two women receive their shoes and get set up at lane twenty-three.

* * *

 

“So, first time bowling,” Matteusz says to Charlie. “Are you excited?”

“I think so. I don’t really know what to expect.”

“I’m sure you’ll pick it up really quickly,” April encourages him with a pat on the back.

“Maybe, but no one can beat the X-Man,” Ram announces, puffing out his chest.

“Who’s ‘the X-Man’?” Tanya teases.

Ram looks put out. “Me. I’m the X-Man. People call me that because of all the strikes I get.”

“What people?” Charlie asks. He seems genuinely confused.

“Yeah, what people?” Tanya repeats sarcastically.

“Just...people.” Ram’s posture has deflated even more now, but Tanya nudges his arm to let him know she’s only joking.

April collects the money from the others and hands it to the cashier. “I’m sure you’re very good at bowling, Ram,” she assures him. Tanya and Matteusz make eye contact behind them, and Tanya makes a gagging expression, at which Matteusz laughs quietly.

“I’m pretty good at bowling, myself,” Tanya boasts. “I mean, I didn’t really go bowling with friends very often, because, you know...whatever. But I’ve still had my fair share of good bowling games.”

“Oh, it’s on, Adeola,” says Ram with a great deal of bravado.

“This whole bowling thing seems a lot more cutthroat than I anticipated,” Charlie whispers to Matteusz.

“You will be fine,” Matteusz tells him, rubbing his shoulder. Charlie smiles, instantly more at ease.

“Lane twenty-four,” the cashier tells them once they’ve received their shoes, and they eagerly hurry toward their lane.

At this time, Quill is taking her third turn, staring menacingly at the split in front of her as if she can knock the pins down by intimidation. It’s kind of adorable, and Kalei can hardly take her eyes off her, but she breaks her gaze when she hears a familiar voice approaching them.

“Hi, Miss Jacobs!” April calls cheerfully. She is walking next to Ram, and Tanya, Matteusz, and Charlie are following behind.

“Hello, April,” Kalei replies warmly, despite the alarm bells going off in her head on Quill’s behalf. “How are you?”

“I’m good, thanks! We all decided to go out tonight to celebrate the term ending. Charlie’s never been bowling before, so it should be lots of fun.” April nearly asks who she is there with, but she glances to the left and spots Quill, who is still mentally devising a strategy to deal with the split and rolling the sixteen-pound ball in her hands. “Oh, and you’re here with Miss Quill. I think that’s lovely,” April adds, causing Tanya to smirk.

Quill hears her name just as she’s swinging back to throw the ball, and instead of focusing all her energy on the perfect shot, she finds herself wondering who had recognized her. The ball leaves her fingertips, headed straight down the center. It would be an impeccable bowl, if not for one thing: the pins were in the corners of the lane. “Shit, fuck, dammit,” she curses under her breath as she watches the ball sail directly between them.

When she turns back, her eyes narrow. Kalei is still conversing with them as they set up at the adjacent lane, but Quill has no qualms about interrupting them.

“Do you know what you lot just did?” she seethes. April looks vaguely terrified, and the rest of them just look clueless. “I had the perfect plan to take out the last two pins in my frame, but then you came along and distracted me right as I was about to take my shot. I missed my chance at a _spare,_ thanks to you!”

“Hey, hey,” Kalei tries to calm her, reaching out to rub her arm, “it was an accident. They didn’t mean to distract you. Besides, you’re still way ahead.”

Quill looks up at the score. It’s the third frame, and she has 55 points to Kalei’s 20. But still, she wouldn’t mind punching all five of the teenagers in the face. She’s grown to feel at least somewhat ambivalent toward the group, but that doesn’t mean they can get away with interfering with her game. She scowls at each of them in turn.

Kalei’s hand, soft but firm, pulls her back from the edge of rage and into the plastic chair beside her. The teenagers go back to minding their own business as Kalei whispers in her ear. “Remember what I told you? I have a special surprise for you back at home, as long as you get through the night without injuring anyone.”

“All right, all right,” Quill sighs. “I suppose that’s good enough incentive, whatever it is.”

“I think you have a pretty good idea of what it is,” Kalei replies, voice slipping into a deeper tone that really gets Quill’s attention. But before Quill can reply with something that is certainly not appropriate to say in public, Kalei gets up to take her turn. Quill just smiles to herself instead.

Meanwhile in lane twenty-four, the first game is just getting underway. Ram and Tanya both get spares on the first frame, while April bowls a solid eight.

They are surprised at April’s choice to use the heaviest ball, but she handles it with remarkable ease, sending it hurtling with force precisely down the center of the lane. When she turns back to them, the shocked expressions on their faces are absolutely priceless, and Ram looks somewhat aroused. “I guess I must have some leftover strength from being the Shadow King, or something,” she says, making everyone laugh, despite the gravity of the memories attached to the statement.

Matteusz is up next, and step by step he shows Charlie what to do: how to hold the ball, the proper form to use as you walk up to the line, where to aim, and when to let go. Charlie watches intently - either trying to absorb the information, admiring his boyfriend’s flexing biceps as he swings the ball, or a combination of the two.

Unfortunately, Matteusz only hits four pins on his first go, which really makes the rest of them question why he’s the one doing the teaching, but they let him get on with it, because it’s kind of sickeningly cute. On his next try, he only hits one. In response, he simply shrugs and says, “Is okay. I will do better next time. Now you try.”

Charlie’s first ball goes straight for the gutter, and his shoulders sink. He’d been watching Quill before his turn came, and she’d made it looks so easy, effortless and graceful. He had hoped it would come that naturally to him as well, but that turns out not to be the case.

“Do not worry,” Matteusz says, coming back over to him as he picks up another ball. “Here, let me show you form again.” He stands behind Charlie and cups his hand around the ball, guiding Charlie’s arm through the air. “See, that is better. Point where you want to go, follow through.” Charlie blushes, but he feels like this time, he will do better.

“Can you two hurry it up?” Ram calls.

“Yeah, some of us are actually trying to play the game here,” Tanya adds.

Matteusz smiles as he leaves Charlie to take his second go.

Charlie takes a deep breath, zeroing in on the center of the pins. _You can do this. You can do this,_ he tells himself. He crosses the distance to the line, swinging his arm back, and—he drops the ball behind him.

Quill snorts as she comes up beside him. “Is that the best you can do, Charles?” she says, before delivering a flawless strike.

Charlie’s face grows hot as he fishes for the ball on the floor. Luckily he doesn’t see his friends, who are all trying to hide their giggles behind their hands.

This time, he is even more determined to do well. _Come on, Charlie. At least hit something._ He repeats the process, carefully following the steps Matteusz told him. Step up, swing back, swing forward, _release._ Everyone tracks the ball with bated breath as it rolls down the lane. His heart beats faster the closer the ball rolls to the pins.

And then—impact! The pins fall down, one after another, until none remain standing. Charlie jumps up and down, ecstatic when he turns back to face his friends.

“Woohoo, yeah Charlie!” April cheers.

Matteusz sweeps him up in a hug. “That was amazing!”

Charlie’s heart is still racing, and a grin covers his face from ear to ear. “Was that a strike?”

Matteusz hesitates. “Well...no, it was a spare, since you got zero first time,” he admits.

“But still,” April chimes in, “that was incredible!”

“How is that even possible?” Tanya whispers to Ram, whose face has drained of all color.

“I have no idea,” Ram replies. “No idea.”

* * *

 

An hour later, the squad’s game is wrapping up, and Quill and Kalei have just finished their second (they could’ve been well into their third, if Quill didn’t take so long staring down the pins). Quill beats Kalei by a solid eighty points each time, which doesn’t really come as a surprise to either of them. Still, Kalei is undeniably impressed by how quickly her alien girlfriend catches on. As she sets up the third game it occurs to her that at this point, another game is just going to end up being a victory lap for Quill. Not that she minds.

Quill comes up behind Kalei and puts her hands on her shoulders, making her jump. “Have I done well?” she murmurs in her ear, creating goosebumps on the entire left side of Kalei’s body.

Kalei glances around to make sure no one is watching, then pulls Quill in for a quick kiss. She knows Quill isn’t one for public displays of affection, but she really, _really_ can’t help it.

Tanya is stepping up for her tenth frame. She is currently in the lead with 121 points, while Ram has 119 and Charlie, surprisingly, is close behind with 115. The other two are too far behind to catch up, but everyone is on edge to see how the game will end. Even Kalei, seeing how tight the scores are, pulls Quill over to watch it play out.

“Don’t mess up!” Ram taunts Tanya, lounging back in his seat. Even though he’s behind now, he’s been ahead for most of the game, and he is pretty confident he can catch up.

“Oh, shut up, will you? I’m trying to concentrate,” Tanya yells back at him.

“I think that’s the point. He’s trying to break your concentration so that he has a better chance of winning,” Charlie informs her helpfully.

“Thank you, Charlie,” she replies, voice dripping with sarcasm.

She swings back, and her first ball is on the mark, leaving only two pins remaining. It should be an easy spare, giving her a third chance in the frame, but Ram hollers something just as she’s about to let go of the ball, throwing off her aim and causing her to miss both.

“Ha!” Ram shouts, pumping his fist in the air. “I only need ten points to win!”

“Screw you, Ram,” Tanya says, bumping his shoulder as she walked by.

“Ram, that wasn’t very nice,” April says, coming to rest her head on his shoulder.

He gives her a squeeze. “I promise I’ll be nice to her _after_ I win, how’s that?”

April sighs affectionately. “I guess that’s fine.”

Ram steps up to the bowling ball holder and pretends to inspect each ball thoroughly before picking it up. Tanya rolls her eyes.

“Let’s do this,” Ram says to himself. He takes a wide power stance before stepping forward and taking his first shot. Strike! He throws his arms in the air. “X-Man, baby! That’s what I’m talking about!”

“Good job!” April congratulates him. Tanya just crosses her arms, sulking, and Matteusz reaches out to give her a consoling pat on the shoulder.

Ram’s next two shots, however, are not so lucky. His mouth hangs open in shock as they both go careening into the gutter. He hadn’t gotten a single gutterball yet. When he turns back, he doesn’t even look anyone in the eye. His eleventh hour failure does make Tanya feel a little better, admittedly, but he just looks so _sad_ that she does feel a little bad. But not that bad, considering he did just tie her in a game she definitely should have won. Tanya 129, Ram 129. Charlie 115, with his turn yet to come.

April and Matteusz take their last turn, but it’s really just out of consideration. No one really pays attention to their last go. They want to see how Charlie does.

When Charlie goes up and gets his ball, he is absolutely terrified he’s going to do something to make himself look stupid. Quill is secretly hoping that he will, just for the laughs. Everyone is watching his every move. Even Matteusz is quiet, forgoing his cheering for silent support. _You can do this, Charlie._

The first ball hits the floor with a loud thud, but it’s rolling, and headed on a straight course for the center. Nine pins down. The last one is in the corner, so he approaches it from the opposite side, to avoid the gutter. He gets it! But no cheering erupts. This only gets him 125. He hasn’t done it yet.

Charlie wipes his hands on his pants before picking up his last ball. His heart is in his throat like it was in his very first frame. He shouldn’t be nervous, considering how close the score is, but he can’t help the way his hands jitter ever so slightly.

When he lets go of the ball, he immediately notices it’s curving toward the left. It’s definitely not going to hit the center; in fact, it might not hit any at all. Matteusz has his fingers crossed and everyone is literally on the edge of their seat. It curves further and further away—but it hits! It tips the one just in the corner, but by a stroke of luck, that one sends four more toppling.

Final score: 130.

April and Matteusz are going crazy, pulling Charlie in for a hug and squealing and shouting. Kalei claps for him too, and Quill joins in unenthusiastically after Kalei elbows her. Quill has to admit, though, the Prince’s performance was unexpected. Maybe he is good for something after all.

Tanya and Ram begrudgingly join in on the group hug, figuring it’s only right they congratulate their friend.

“Job well done, Charlie,” Ram says. “After that very first frame I thought you’d never come back. I’m impressed.”

“Maybe you should call me X-Man now,” Charlie suggests.

Ram laughs. “Yeah, maybe not.”

“Congrats, Charlie,” Tanya says as the hug dissolves. “You’re a pretty solid bowler, especially for your first try. We should start a bowling team or something.”

“A bowling team? Aren’t we all a team already?” he asks. Tanya looks at him blankly. “And we’re already bowling...so therefore…”

“Oh, never mind that,” says Tanya. “How do you feel about a rematch?”

“Yeah, let’s see if that was just beginner’s luck,” Ram agrees.

Charlie accepts the challenge with a simple “I’m in.”

“Hey, what about us?” April protests.

“Yeah, we could still have a chance against you guys,” Matteusz points out, leaning over the three top competitors to make sure his name still gets put into the computer.

“Sure, if you say so,” Tanya says.

Kalei just shakes her head fondly listening to them all tease each other and have fun together. It reminds her of why she loves to teach in the first place: she loves to be involved in the lives of young adults and see how they grow up. Quill would probably laugh or roll her eyes if she said that, and ask if she’s serious, but it’s true. Some really weird circumstances had brought them all together over the past few months, and it would take a hell of a lot to break them apart.

Still, neither she nor Quill would have really minded if the kids were just a few lanes over so they could enjoy their date alone. But that was probably too much to ask of the universe, these days.


End file.
